It was reported that Marco Rubio had turned down the opportunity to deliver the keynote speech at Friday night’s event. He instead made a taped appearance at the beginning, while Ted won over the 500-plus Republicans he left behind. Cruz’s speech focused on criticizing Obama, which he framed as follows:

He criticized NSA spying, asked all to turn their phones on to make sure Obama listened to every word he said.

He called his foreign policy “feckless and naïve.”

“Like many people in this room, my dad was born in Cuba, in Matanzas, and like many people in this room, he experienced oppression in Cuba. He was thrown in prison in tortured by Batista. And his sister was thrown in prison and tortured by Castro.”

Cruz asked “everyone in this room who is an immigrant or the child of an immigrant, please stand up,” nearly everyone (500 plus attendees) did.

Miami-Dade is the only major urban county in the country where a majority of the GOP, 72 percent, is Hispanic, nearly all Cuban.

He was introduced and came on stage with “The Yellow Rose of Texas” playing.

He boasted about the San Antonio spurs NBA win over the Miami Heat, earning a few good-natured boos.

Ted Cruz gave a shout out to Rubio but did not mention him by name when talking about “amnesty” which provides a pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. He said:

“Amnesty — No. 1 — is profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants to the millions of men and women and children who waited in line years, sometimes decades. But — No. 2 — Amnesty inevitably encourages more illegal immigration.” Cruz laid the blame for the failure of comprehensive immigration reform at the feet of Democrats, whom he accused of having an all-or-nothing approach to the issue because they insist on a path to citizenship. Governor Rick Scott, who recently passed giving illegals instate tuition, was not present.

Cruz is not perfect but he seems like a reasonable enough person who would #listen to what if anything we had to say about either amnesty or any other issue. It seems he has listened. As far as I know (I would be the first to share it if it was so) US Chamber of Commerce has not approached him like it has others. He may or may not be tied (still) in some ways to the Bushes. Being from Texas I wouldn’t be surprised; however, we must always be aware of what is going on.

To run for president obviously one needs money. Without it there is no way to win (unless you’re in Virginia running against Eric Cantor). But money is one thing and corruption is another. We shall wait to see what happens. There is still plenty of time to vet the potential 2016 candidates. I can say for certain that anyone who dismisses the excitement Ted generated on FRIDAY night or who walked away feeling pessimistic or anxious about the future if they were there is just not paying attention. The last post has ruffled some feathers already.

Here is a picture of supporters who were outside the Hilton just to greet Ted Cruz with a big welcome. They got a thank-you invite to attend the event. Not bad considering each seat was $100.